Laura Carpenter discusses ‘Uglies’ (2024) streaming on Netflix.
Based on Scott Westerfeld’s 2005 young adult novel, Netflix’s adaptation of Uglies is relatively simple. In a dystopian future three hundred years from now, the government funds everything, including the mandated extreme cosmetic surgery everyone receives at the age of 16, transforming them from an ‘Ugly’ into a ‘Pretty’.
Both the book and the film centre around the character of Tally Youngblood (played by Joey King), a female Ugly who is almost 16. To be fair to Miss Joey King, her acting, like that of the rest of her castmates, is as good as expected from a film of this calibre. Like most young adult female protagonists, especially those written by male authors, our protagonist is bland enough for the viewer to project themselves onto her as she wanders through the plot. I won’t spoil the plot because frankly that kills most of the reason to watch the film but I will say that if you enjoyed Divergent, you might enjoy this. If you did not, begin this with even lower expectations.
On the topic of low expectations, the film was introduced to me not by a trailer or any marketing (which says a lot about Netflix’s hopes for this film) but by complaints about the visual effects and makeup used in this film. A lot of people online have made fun of how the Pretties are presented in the film, drawing comparisons to bold glam filters used online or extreme airbrushing and silly faces to emphasise bone structure and… that’s kind of the point. It is a little odd considering that the ‘Uglies’ should be these flawed beings (such as Joey King’s character who is nicknamed Squint despite her eyes being very wide and open) that society deems must be fixed with this required surgery and are then played by celebrities with flawless skin, who undoubtedly have been tended to by a team of hair and makeup experts along with having their procedures done. Again, I think that is the point and one of the main, if not only, things the film does exceedingly well.
In the real world, we are all so fixated on looking young and beautiful, matching the unrealistic standards curated by celebrities whose careers rely on maintaining and keeping up with constantly shifting standards that even they struggle to keep up with their wealth and access to harsh chemicals and dangerous procedures, that we end up damaging ourselves both physically and mentally in the process despite being of worth and value beyond our appearances because we hyper fixate on flaws that are advertised to us with the newest trendy solution. So, whilst I can appreciate that some viewers may have wanted a more extreme transformation to be displayed, I think what we get is good enough.
It is a shame I cannot say the same for the entirety of the film, as Uglies is as shallow as its title implies, which is disappointing given its premise. A film that explores the question of ‘what if the government used the extreme value placed into people’s attractiveness to brainwash them into extreme obedience and ignoring the destruction of their health and the world around them’ should be more of a wake-up call than this film allowed itself to be.
‘Uglies’ (2024) can be watched on Netflix. Check out the trailer below!
